About Us

Care India Medical Society (CIMS) ) is a unique public charitable trust registered in Pune in February 1993. The trust provides a social support system to the community in preventive, early detection and end of life care aspects of cancer control management. The society’s activities are divided into FOUR categories:  Satseva (home care for palliative care patients), Matruseva (Health maintenance programme for women – prevention and early detection), Vishranti (respite and palliative care centre) and CANTREAT.

It began when the Founder Trustee N S Nyayapathi was extremely moved by the pain he had to witness his mother go through in her advanced stages of kidney cancer before her death in 1989. This affected him so much that he took premature retirement from the army and visited USA and UK to see how palliative care was administered at close quarters. This is how Care India Medical Society (CIMS) was set up in June 1993 by Col. N S Nyayapathi (Retd.) and his anesthetist wife Dr. Madhuri Kavoori. They first set up the Satseva project to provide palliative care to the patients at their doorstep in December 1994 in Pune.

It was difficult in the early years when Dr. Madhuri travelled all over the city in public transport lugging a water mattress weighing 7 kg and her medical kit. She made as many as 14 rounds on some days. In 1996 a good Samaritan finally donated a rickshaw.

Vishranti India’s first pain management outreach programme for cancer patients in need of palliative care was set up in February 2007. This modest 15 bed hospital is often described by the patients as a five star hospital for its comfort, hygiene levels and caring attitude. It caters to those in the advanced stages of cancer free of cost. The organization has been working relentlessly for the past 25 years in the field of cancer, especially in the alleviation of pain and human suffering providing services to the poor and needy through their institutions SATSEVA and MATRUSEVA.

Frequently Asked Questions.

What are cancer cells?

Cancer cells are cells that have lost control of their ability to divide in a controlled fashion creating a group of out-of-control, dividing and growing cancer cells – a tumour. Tumours induce blood vessel growth (angiogenesis). They may grow quickly or slowly.

How does cancer spread?

Single cancer cells can break away from an established tumour, to spead locally or they may enter the bloodstream or lymph system, and be carried to a distant site, where they can take root and grow as a secondary tumour. They can also spread across body cavities.

Why are older people more prone to cancer in general?

As people get older, they accumulate more changes in their DNA which means an increased likelihood of cancer. Older people may also have a less efficient immune system to stop cancer taking hold. In the India about 70% of all newly diagnosed cancers occur in people aged 60 or over. Looked at another way, about 65% of cancers in the India affect people over the age of 65.

How many different cancers are there?

It is often said: about 200. However, as we discover more about cancer this is a simplistic answer. Scientists are increasingly finding more and more variants within one cancer site meaning that different types within one type behave differently and require different treatment.

What are the commonest cancers?

The four most common cancers in India are breast cancer, lung cancer, bowel cancer, and prostate cancer (taken together they represent about half of the new cases of malignant cancer).